Shop owner held on charge of molesting four minors

Jagityal district police picked up a 27-year-old grocery store owner from a remote village on charge of molesting minor girls coming to his shop.

While three of the victims were below 12 years of age, another was around 13 years. The accused befriended the girls who used to come to his shop.

“Inquiries indicated that the accused befriended the unsuspecting minor girls offering chocolates,” a police officer associated with the investigation of the case said on Thursday. The shop owner used to give his smart phone sometimes to the minors to lure them, the officer said.

Parents of one of the girls grew suspicious having noticed that their daughter was upset and dejected of late. When inquired, the girl revealed that the grocery store owner lured her inside the shop and molested her.

“During interrogation, the accused admitted that he had been misbehaving with minors coming to his shop for past one year. He would undress them and make sexual advances,” the officer said. A case under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was registered against the shop owner and he is being interrogated.